


Somewhere Only We Know

by WickedCinnamonRoll



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game), The Walking Dead Game
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Biphobia, Blackmail, Blood and Violence, Bloody and Bruised Knuckles, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Denial of Feelings, Drug Use, Eddie has anxiety, Eddie is very bisexual and Wyatt is very confused, Explicit Language, Fights, Fist Fights, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, High School, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Marijuana, Mutual Pining, Old music - Freeform, Parties, Pre-Apocalypse, Road Trips, Sexual Content, Sexual Frustration, Sexual Tension, Skipping Class, Slow Burn, Smoking, Sneaking Out, Social Anxiety, TJ has some major daddy issues, TJ isn't the best influence, Teen Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking, and Wyatt is just sad, but that's okay, high school parties, rock music
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-12-05 16:09:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11581524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedCinnamonRoll/pseuds/WickedCinnamonRoll
Summary: After living in Seattle for five years, Wyatt returns to where his life truly began:Atlanta, Georgia.Wyatt doesn't think much of the move, until he is reminded of his childhood friend, Eddie.The teenage Wyatt is now curious on if his friend is still in Atlanta. But when he enrolls into his new high school, all of his questions and more will be answered about his old childhood friend and the life he now lives.[[ON HIATUS]]





	1. Home Not-So-Sweet Home

   If someone were to tell Wyatt that he was just about to move out of his comfy seaside house in Seattle and back to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, he would've asked them what they were smoking to think such a thing.

   However, when he found out this was the case, the idea of being high didn't sound too bad to him.

   It's not like a part of him wasn't at least a little bit excited to go back to Atlanta. But, the idea of being stuck on a direct plane from Seattle to Atlanta for more than five hours didn't really make him jump for joy. In fact, it was quite the opposite. From the moment he sat down to the moment the plane landed in Atlanta, Wyatt sat slumped in his seat, trying desperately to fall asleep or find something to occupy his mind. But that would've been too easy. Out of the five hours, he only got an hour of sleep, if you could even call it "sleep." When he woke up, a blinding pain throbbed throughout his head. He winced as he touched his head. His mother, who was sitting next to him, looked up from the magazine she was reading and looked over to Wyatt.

   "Ah, you're finally awake." she said, somewhat cheerfully.

   "Finally?" he mumbled as he sat up properly. "In my opinion, I didn't get enough sleep."

   "Well, you were always the opinionated one." His mother gave a small laugh and patted his knee. "If it makes you feel better, we only have around half an hour left until we get to Atlanta."

   "Good." Wyatt said plainly. He rubbed the back of his head and yawned. "Man...my head's killing me."

   She looked like she remembered something. "Oh, a while ago, you were moving around and hit your head against the wall next to you. I was going to ask if you were okay, but you were still out cold and I didn't want to wake you up."

   Wyatt blinked and shook his head, hiding a crooked smile from his mother. "Thanks for not waking me up."

   He looked back up at his mother. She smiled down at him, drawing more attention to the small and previously unnoticed wrinkles around her eyes and lips. Her long blonde hair was put up in a messy bun, only messy due to the stress of the move. She smoothed out her gray cardigan before returning to the magazine she was reading.

   Wyatt sighed and ruffled up his shoulder length, dirty blond hair. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and looked out his window, only to see a few bright city lights through the dark clouds.

_As if I didn't already look like a grumpy, brooding sixteen-year-old...I gotta do shit like this._

   That's just how he was though.

   His mother always said that he got his serious and grumpy behavior from his father. Most people would take that as an insult, but for him, he was the highest form of flattery. He respected that man more than anyone else. He was like a superhero to him.

   Wyatt furrowed his eyebrows

  _Was. He was like a superhero._

   But that was in the past now.

   Even though it's been around five years since his father passed away, it felt like it just happened yesterday, as cliché as that sounded.

   He could still clearly remember how serious he always looked, even he was just listening to someone. He could still remember how truly happy he looked when he told one of his stupid jokes. He could still remember how proud had he acted when Wyatt did something slightly impressive. Most parents would pretend to be impressed or proud over the stupidest shit...but not Wyatt's dad. He was genuinely proud of his son.

   "Hey Wyatt!" his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and sharp pat on his shoulder.

   He flinched and looked up to see Spencer standing over him.

   He gave a big grin. "C'mon, we're here!"

   As soon as he turned his back, Wyatt rolled his eyes as far as he could.

   There was no easy way to say this: Spencer was his mother's boyfriend.

   Even just thinking that was almost enough to make Wyatt puke up his airline peanuts.

   He grabbed his backpack that he had shoved underneath the seat in front of him, slung it over his shoulders and started to follow his mother and Spencer down the aisle.

   Just after they exited the airplane and entered the airport, Wyatt looked around at the surprisingly crowded airport as his legs were just starting to wake up. He yawned and stretched his arms behind his head to get the blood flowing.

   "Damn." he muttered quietly. He spoke up a bit louder. "What time is it?"

   His mother glanced up at a clock that was hanging on one of the many walls. "Um...2:31."

   "So, that means that it's 11:31 back in Seattle." Wyatt said plainly. He looked out the large windows next to one of the gates. As expected, it was pitch black outside. He groaned. "Man...I wish I was in bed right now."

   "We all wish that, honey." his mother cooed. "But don't worry. Our new house isn't too far from here."

   Wyatt adjusted the backpack strap on his shoulder. "Is our furniture there already?" as soon as he asked, he wanted to smack himself for asking. After all, he already knew the answer:

   "No." his mother sighed. "They told us that our stuff wouldn't arrive until Thursday."

   Wyatt had to take a second to remember what day it was again, the events of the move messing with his head. If it was already technical the next day, that would've meant that the day was Tuesday. Wyatt groaned again when he realized this, much louder this time. Spencer chuckled and looked back at him.

   "Don't worry, Wyatt." he said, trying to comfort him. "That's why we packed blankets and pillows with us."

   "Oh, well when you put it like THAT, sleeping on the ground instead of in a comfy bed DOES sound much more appealing." Wyatt stated, unable to hold back the sarcastic remark.

   Spencer remained silent, but looked over to Wyatt's mother with a concerned look on his face. His mother drew closer to Wyatt's side and touched his shoulder.

   "Hey, I bet you're hungry. How does a dinner-breakfast combo sound to you?" 

   He glanced over to his mother, who was gently smiling at him. He begrudgingly returned the smile and looked down at his feet.

   "Sounds pretty good, I guess."

 

   It definitely wasn't five star dining, but it was still pretty damn good. 

   As Spencer took a quick bathroom break, Wyatt and his mother sat in the airport's McDonald's, eating up the greasy food as if it were the finest food around. He dipped his fries into the ketchup and lazily shoved them into his face. He knew that he probably looked like a complete mess. His shaggy, blond hair covered up half of his face and was most likely sticking up in certain places. His glasses hung precariously on his nose, but he simply didn't have the motivation to push them up. The stubble on his chin and neck just looked...gross. His shoe laces were undone and to be honest, he wasn't planning on tying them back up. Yes, he could go on and on about how he looked like a homeless man that was somehow able to scrape up enough money for an egg Mcmuffin, some hash browns, fries and a Coke...and he did. But he didn't care in the slightest. He was never one to care about how others saw him. He blinked as he crammed the hash brown in his mouth and chewed slowly, daring to enjoy it. He sipped his Coke and glanced up to see that Spencer was walking towards them. He sat down and immediately started to dig into his own food. After he was halfway through his Big Mac, he turned to his mother and smiled.

   "This is a great dinner...er...breakfast, Kate."

   She smiled back and laughed awkwardly. "You don't need to tell me. I only ordered it."

   As the two of them talked, Wyatt decided to keep to himself for as long as possible. He honestly just wanted to get to their new house and since his bed wouldn't be there, curl up on the ground and try to get a goodnight's sleep or at least sleep for more than three hours. He finished his last hash brown and awkwardly looked down at his feet, unsure of what to do now. He slowly closed his eyes and crossed his arms, trying to get comfortable, or as comfortable as he could be, being in a McDonald's. Just as the sounds around him were beginning to be nothing more but muffled static, he felt the table and the chairs around him shift slightly. He opened his eyes back up to see that his mother and Spencer were starting to clean up the mess of wrappers and napkins and get up. He silently picked up his backpack and swung it onto his back. After he threw away his garbage, they all continued to make their way to get their luggage.

   Wyatt huffed as he blew a stray piece of hair out of his face. He slowly blinked as he watched his mother and Spencer standing by the conveyer belt, looking out for their things. His mother had asked him to wait by the seats with the luggage they already got, even though he actually wanted to help them out with grabbing the passing by suitcases. He glanced over to the two suitcases that they had already grabbed: one had belonged to him and the other had belonged to Spencer. In total, they had brought five suitcases with them, but they weren't even able to bring half of the stuff with them on the plane. Most of their other stuff were in boxes that were shipped off, along with their furniture. He kicked his feet up onto his suitcase, not giving two shits if he scuffed up the material with his filthy sneakers. It didn't take too long for the two of them to return with the rest of their suitcases.

   Wyatt dragged his feet while his mother and Spencer walked in front of him, leading them all outside. When they made it outside, Wyatt leaned against his suitcase and looked up at the cloudy sky. He continued to stare up until his mother got his attention by tapping his shoulder. He looked over to the roads next to the airport to see a shuttle driving up to them. After his mother talked to the driver, Wyatt helped out with putting away the luggage along with Spencer. 

   The trip in the shuttle was nothing more than a tired blur in Wyatt's eyes. As his mother and Spencer happily talked about the move, their new house and who knows what else, Wyatt continued to keep to himself and began to stare blankly out of his window. He watched the dark clouds roll over the sky and the people that they were passing.

   It was so...surreal.

   It's been so long since he had left Atlanta. Everything looked the same, yet completely different at the same time. It was strange. He rested his face against the cold glass of the window, still looking out. He would have passed out from drained he had felt, but he couldn't help but get a little excited. Sure, if you were to just look at him, you would've seen that he looked completely dead on the inside. But this was merely his resting face. He let a small smile appear on his face, but quickly returned to his resting dead face, as he liked to call it.

   It was good to be home again.

 

   When they finally made it to their new house, Wyatt was a little surprised. He somehow recognized the neighborhood and realized that their new house was only a few blocks away from his old house. But this house was a lot nicer.

   It was a nice white, two-story house with giant windows used to overlook the neighborhood. The white paint on the building looked fresh and while it contradicted with the dull and wilting grass, he could imagine the grass looking more green and vibrant during the spring or summer. He walked up to the door, rolling his tattered suitcase behind him. His sneakers made an odd thudding noise against the stone pathway. After his mother opened up the front door, all three of them entered and started to look around the utterly empty and honestly, kinda creepy house.

   Kate gave a happy, yet tired smile. "Well...here we are, gang!"

   Wyatt gave an over exaggerated yawn and began to trudge towards the stairs on his left. "Yeah...great. If you need me, I'll be asleep in my brand new room...on the floor, of course."

   Kate pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay, sweetie. Sleep tight, okay?"

   The blond nodded before stomping over to the stairs, but before he could make it to the first step, his mother spoke up again. "Oh, Wyatt? Remember, in a few days, we have to go up to the high school so you can get your class schedule and locker."

   "Yeah...yeah." Wyatt muttered, barely listening, starting to make his way up the stairs.

   "G'night, Wyatt." Spencer yawned as he brought his suitcases in.

   Instead of responding, Wyatt chose to remain silent and Spencer just assumed that he  was too tired to respond. While this was true, he simply didn't want to talk to Spencer.

   When he made it to the top with both of his suitcases, he trudged down the hallway to his left and stopped in front of the last door. The door creaked as he opened up the door and peered through the crack.

   It was rather dark and if it weren't for the streetlights outside, it probably would've been pitch black.

   Wyatt found the light switch, but when he flipped it, nothing happened. He sighed. "Of course...of fucking course." 

   From what little light was coming in, Wyatt could see bits and pieces of his new room. Not big enough to be the master bedroom, but pretty big. The walls around him and carpet beneath him were both a dull beige color. To his left, he saw a pretty sizable closet that was built into the wall with a sliding door and to his right was a large window, one could probably see the whole neighborhood from looking out of it.

   He entered and closed the door behind him, allowing his suitcases to drop to the floor. After he kicked off his shoes, he opened up his suitcases. He pulled a quilt and a blanket and laid it out on the floor, using the quilt as a mattress of sorts. He pulled out a small travel pillow and though it was way too small to be used as a proper pillow, it would have to do.

   He groggily changed out of his hoodie and jeans and into his flannel pajamas before flopping hardly against his makeshift bed. 

 

   He must have been lying there, blankly staring up at the ceiling, for around forty minutes. Wyatt scrunched up his eyebrows. It was usually easy for him to fall asleep, so the fact that he was still awake was really a mystery. He groaned tiredly before reluctantly sitting up. He glanced towards his backpack.

   _Might as well unpack some stuff._

   He pulled the old, raggedy backpack closer to him and started to dig around inside of it. He pulled out his flashlight from one of the pockets. He turned it on with a click and continued to dig through his backpack, this time, really able to see what he was digging through. He grabbed his Gameboy Color (and his only game on it: Pokémon Gold) and plopped it next to himself before going back into his backpack. After a bit of rummaging through and pulling out random things he decided to bring with him onto the plane, such as comic books and an old Rubik's Cube that helped kept his mind occupied, he pulled out his DVD case, which is where he kept all of his music CDs. He opened it up and flipped through all of them.

   _Metallica, Queen, The Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead,  Red Hot Chili Peppers, Def Leppard, Aerosmith..._

   He paused and looked at the next CD.

   There was no cover nor band name. Instead, in place for any actual title, something scribbled messily in sharpie. He squinted and pushed up his glasses.

   _God...who writes like-?_

   It took him a second to really be able to read the messy handwriting...and then...it all came crashing down on him, or as he would've put it, it felt as if a monster truck crashed right into him at full speed.

   His hands started to shake as his eyes grew wide.

   ..."Long Story Short"...that's what was written.

   He didn't know what to do or say.

 

   Alright, to properly understand everything, let us go back to around five years ago.

 

   Wyatt was eleven when he moved to Seattle with his mother. When his father passed away, his mother was completely filled with grief and his grandmother had offered for them to move up to Seattle so they wouldn't have to be alone through all of this.

   As he sat outside his house on his last day in Georgia, he tried (and failed) to wrap his tiny, child brain around what was going on.

   His father was gone and he had to leave his friends to go live in Seattle.

   On the outside, he remained calm and stoic.

   But, on the inside, he was absolutely destroyed and he just wanted to run away and find somewhere where he could just...cry.

   The more he thought about it...about how he would never see his father again...about how he wouldn't get to hug him or listen to his lame jokes again...about how he probably wouldn't be able to see his friends again...the more his eyes stung and the more his body shook.

   He sniffed and whimpered before pulling up his knees and hiding his face in his legs. He allowed a few silent tears to roll down his face as he shoved his glasses up back onto his nose, slightly smudging the lenses. 

   That's when he heard tiny footsteps run up the driveway.

   He slowly looked up, hoping that whoever was there wouldn't be able to see his tear stained cheeks.

   The boy in front of him had olive skin covered in Band-Aids, most likely covering injuries from the fights he'd gotten into or simply from the injuries he had gotten from doing stupid stunts. Panting, his forehead was drenched in sweat and guessing by the way his black hair was sticking up in odd places, the top of his head must of been sweating as well.

   Wyatt gave a weak smile. "...Hey." he sniffed and wiped his eyes. "What's up?" he tried to sound casual, but his voice sounded horsed and shaky. 

   The boy looked down at him, furrowing his eyebrows. He was a little shorter than Wyatt and just a small boy in general. His arms and legs could be compared to twigs.

   "Is this your last day here? Before you move?" when he spoke, it sounded as if he already knew the answer.

   Wyatt looked down at the pavement and nodded silently. 

   The boy sat down across from him, but remained silent.

   They were probably like that for a good five minutes before the boy awkwardly cleared his throat.

   "Umm..." he scratched the back of his head before handing something to Wyatt. "M-My brother made this for you..."

   Wyatt looked up to see that his hands were clamped tightly around a CD case. He took it from him as he continued. "He's good with technology and nerdy stuff like that. It has all of our favorite songs, so when you listen to it, you won't forget about me...about us."

   Wyatt gave a small smile as he read out the name of it. " 'Long Story Short'? What the Hell does that mean?"

   The boy chuckled. "Uh, it-it's dumb...it means, like...we were suppose to hang out forever. We were gonna have a long story, but..." his smile turned sad. "now it's just a short story."

   He looked up and chuckled nervously. "Sorry...it's really stupid."

   Wyatt gave a genuine smile. The first genuine smile he had given in a long while. "No no...it's really awesome. I mean it, thanks."

   The boy averted his eyes from Wyatt. He noticed that his lip was slightly quivering. Wyatt stood up. "I, uh, have to help out with the packing now."

   Before he could move anymore, the boy stood up and wrapped his arms around Wyatt, enveloping him into a tight hug.

   Wyatt was taken aback by this, but when he heard the boy's whimpers, he hugged back. He felt him bury his face into his shoulder as his cries grew worse. Wyatt squeezed his shoulder with one hand as he patted his back with his other hand. He tried not to cry along with him, but...

   "P-Please...promise that you'll come back."

   He felt his own eyes tear up as he hugged him tighter.

   "I-I promise."

   The boy laughed, still crying. "I-I'm gonna m-miss you so much, Wyatt."

   Wyatt fully released the waterworks. "I...I'm gonna miss you so much too, Eddie."

 

 


	2. Flashy Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After living in Seattle for five years, Wyatt returns to where his life truly began:
> 
> Atlanta, Georgia.
> 
> Wyatt doesn't think much of the move, until he is reminded of his childhood friend, Eddie.
> 
> The teenage Wyatt is now curious on if his friend is still in Atlanta. But when he enrolls into his new high school, all of his questions and more will be answered about his old childhood friend and the life he now lives.

   _What an absolutely wonderful way to spend a Friday afternoon._

   If you thought that was completely genuine and not at all sarcastic, then you clearly don't know Wyatt.   

  

   Him and his mother drove up to his new high school and when they arrived, Wyatt noticed that school was ending and kids were starting to leave by buses, bikes, parents picking them up and even by just walking. His mother had told him that they happen to live by one of the bus stops, so she wouldn't have to pick him up. Wyatt gave a subtle sigh of relief. Good, every teenagers' worst nightmare of having their mom have to pick them up after school wouldn't be coming true for him. He didn't care what others thought of him, but he had to admit that being picked up by his mom did sound embarrassing.   

   The two of them exited the car and began to walk up to the school. Wyatt shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie as he continued to follow his mother. He looked up so he could get a better look at the building.   

   It was a very...average-looking building. It had two stories, very geometric in its shape and very, very large. He also noticed a mural that nearly took up half of one of the walls. It was of a green frog.   

   Wyatt scoffed. "What a boring mascot. Why would they show it off like that?"   

   His mother noticed the mural and smiled. "I think it's cute." she turned back to her son. "And it shows that they have spirit."   

   Wyatt remained silent as they started to enter the school building.   

   As expected, the inside of the school was very...average-looking.   

   The floors were slick and shiny, the janitors must have recently cleaned them. The white brick walls were lined with lockers along with doors, some opened and some closed. As the walked down the halls, Wyatt noticed that there were still some students in the classes. Detention? Clubs? Other after school activities? Who knows. Posters littered the walls and Wyatt skimmed them as they walked by.    

 _Join the chess club!_  

_Sign up for the prom committee!_

_What to be a teacher's aide? Stop by the office before or after school!_

   _Big football game coming up!_

   Wyatt rolled his eyes.   

   _How...exciting._

   It didn't take long for them to make it to the office. He stayed behind his mother as she walked up to the desk to talk to the receptionist.   

   "Hello." his mother greeted with a kind smile on her face. "I'm Kate Anderson. I'm here to pick up the schedule for my son, Wyatt Anderson."   

   Instead of responding, the receptionist looked down at her computer and began to furiously type away at her keyboard. Still remaining silent, she stood up and walked over to a printer on the other side of the room. She soon came back, wielding a piece of paper. The tight lipped woman handed his mother the paper before sitting back down.   

   His mother quietly cleared her throat before turning to her son. "Um...sweetie...I have to sign some papers and speak with the principal about a few things. W-Why don't you go look around? You know, so you can find your classes and get used to the layout."   

   Wyatt sighed and nodded. "Okay...I'll go do that."   

   His mother smiled as Wyatt started to walk out of the office.   

   When he exited the room, he looked down at his schedule.   

   "Okay..." he mumbled as he looked through it. "First period...geometry with Mrs. Lang in room 203."   

   He looked up from the paper and looked to his right. There was a long hallway leading to an intersection of two different hallways. He walked down the hallway, the sound of his loud footsteps echoed around him. When he made it to the end of the hallway, he looked down the two other hallways. Along with doors and lockers, at the end of each hallway were a set of stairs and, surprise, more hallways. He decided to go down the hallway on his left. He looked at each of the numbers next to the classrooms.   

   _113._

_114._

_115._

   He glanced up at the stairs.   

   _The "200" classes must be upstairs._

   He started to trudge up the stairs, not in any real hurry. As soon as he stepped foot onto the second floor, someone ran over to the stairs and before going down them, accidently bumped into Wyatt, pretty hard, in fact. Wyatt quickly looked behind him and saw that the person was already halfway down the stairs.   

   "Hey!" he shouted. "Watch where you're going!"   

   Without looking up or even slowing down, the stranger simply shouted back. "Sorry man!"   

   Wyatt rolled his eyes before continuing his search for his algebra class. He turned the corner and saw that all the classes were "200" classes and his algebra class was right next to him.   

   It was exactly how he expected it to look.    

   The walls were covered in colorful, dare he say, "fun" math posters, the desks all stood neatly in rows and the teacher's desk at the front of the room had stacks of books and papers on it.   

_One class down, six to go._

 

   Most of his classes were on the second floor, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't annoying to constantly go up and down the stairs or weave in and out of the many hallways. Now all he had to do was find his locker.   

   He decided to start looking on the first floor.   

   Wyatt walked down the stairs and started to make his way towards the main hall. He turned the corner and-   

   _Click._   

_Flash!_

   Without a warning of any kind, a blinding flash of light went off right in front of his face.   

   He groaned before taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, trying desperately to get rid of the black spots in his vision.   

   "Whoops! Sorry there, pal! Didn't see ya there."   

   Wyatt soon blinked the spots away and was able to see the owner of the voice.   

   Before him stood a short boy, at least, short compared to the nearly six-foot-tall Wyatt. He gave a small, cheesy smile as he fixed his short, caramel hair. In his hands he held an instant camera. He pulled out the developed photo and laughed at what he saw.   

   "Looks like you stepped right into the shot."   

   Wyatt glanced down at the photograph and cringed. The photo itself wasn't bad but...God...he hated having his picture taken.   

   He roughly cleared his throat. "Uh...s-sorry."   

   The boy waved away the apology. "Oh no, don't be sorry. I was just trying to get a shot of the main hallway. I should've waited to take it later on, you know, when there isn't a lot of people walking around."   

   Wyatt wasn't sure what to say so he just nodded. He remained silent as he stared down at the ground awkwardly. Before he could walk away just as awkwardly, the boy spoke up.   

   "I don't believe we've met before." he extended his arm out. "Kyle Lawrence."   

   Wyatt gulped before sheepishly shaking his hand. "Um...Wyatt Anderson."   

   After they finished their handshake, Kyle gave a somewhat sneaky smile. "In fact...I don't believe I've ever even seen you here before. I would remember a face like yours."   

   _Was that an insult or a complement? I honestly can't tell._

   Wyatt tried to brush off the possible insult. He ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I-uh just moved here from Seattle a couple of days ago."   

   His smile grew. "Seattle! How exciting! In that case-" he lifted up the photo of Wyatt. "-I might keep this."   

   "Yeah, speaking of which, why were you taking pictures of the hallway?"   

   Sure, it was a pretty dumb question, but he was mainly asking this so he could figure out why he would keep a picture of him.   

   Kyle straightened himself out and smoothed out his navy blue sweater. "Ah, I'm so glad you asked! I, Kyle Lawrence, am president of the photography club. It is our job, as a club of course, to capture moments to be put into the school newspapers, posters and things of that nature. We also help photograph important school events, such as sports games, holidays and prom, which is going to happen in just a few months. I am also part of the journalism club, which produce the school's newspaper.  I was asked to take pictures of the school with absolutely no students in the frame. But-" he lifted up the photo again. "-this picture would go along nicely with a side story about the new student from Seattle."   

   Wyatt blinked.   

_...This kid sure does like to talk._

   "What year are you in?"   

   He was slightly caught off guard by Kyle's question. "Um...I'm a sophomore."   

   The boy raised one of his eyebrows questionably. "Really? I would've guessed that you were a junior like me."   

   Wyatt blinked again.    

   _This kid is older than me? Man, this conversation is getter weirder and weirder by the second._

   He sighed and gestured towards the photograph. "What did you say you were gonna do with that again?"   

   "I was thinking that maybe I should do a small article on the brand new fresh meat-I mean, new student here at Stonewall High. Perhaps I can even get a small interview from the new student himself."   

   Wyatt lifted up a finger. "Hold on. Do you usually interview new students that you run into and while I'm on the subject, do you usually call them 'fresh meat' ?"   

   He cocked an eyebrow. "Did I say 'fresh meat' ? I meant to say 'new student.' And no, I don't usually interview random new students that I find wandering the halls of Stonewall High. You're a special case."   

_Once again, can't tell if that's an insult or a complement._

   "Right, but the thing is-" Wyatt mumbled plainly as he snatched the photo from Kyle's hand. "-I hate having my picture taken. So, no, you can't use my picture for your little newspaper."   

   Kyle chuckled. "Well, technically it's the SCHOOL'S newspaper, not mine. By the way, 'The Stonewall Times' is an incredible way to find out anything and everything you need to know about what's been happening on school campus. And, I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything like that, but that's partly because, not only do I help provide the photos, I also help write and edit articles and make sure that we give nothing but the cold hard truth. Anyways, I will not include your picture, but could I perhaps get a small interview with you?"   

   Wyatt stared in disbelief.   

_...This kid REALLY likes to talk._

   His face grew slightly soft as he pushed up his glasses. "Look, I'm sure you're a nice guy. You seem pretty smart and stuff like that, but-" without hesitation, ripped the photo in half. "-no." he continued to rip the photo into smaller pieces. "No photo. No interview. No anything."   

   After he threw the pieces into a nearby garbage can, instead of getting mad, Kyle's smile never disappeared, he hadn't even flinched, and Wyatt could tell that his smile wasn't fake in the slightest.   

   "Well, it didn't hurt to ask. It was a pleasure to meet you, Wyatt Anderson. I hope that you enjoy this school. If you've ever lonely or in need for a friend, pick up one of our newspapers. We always list where we 'make the magic happen' and by that I mean, it list where we meet up."   

   And with that, Kyle Lawrence waved goodbye and walked away.   

 

   Wyatt must of been standing in that hallway for at least ten minutes, absolutely dumbfounded by what had just happened. He snapped out of his daze when he noticed his mother leaving the office. Without sharing a single word, the two of them exited the school building and made their way towards her car.     

   "So, did you talk to any of the other students?"   

   His mother finally broke the silence about halfway to their house.   

   Wyatt looked out his window. "Yeah."   

   She smiled. "Oh, does that mean that you've made a friend?"   

   Wyatt sighed as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You could say that."   

   When she stopped at a red light, she turned to her son and softly touched his shoulder. "You'll be fine, right? At this new school, I mean."   

   "Yeah." he muttered, still looking out his window. "I'll be fine."   

   She removed her hand from his shoulder as the light turned green. She looked straight ahead and continued to drive. Wyatt rested his head on the cold glass of the window.   

   _I'll be fine once I find out if Eddie's still here. Until then, I'll lay low._


	3. Smoky Clouds

   Just when it seemed as if Wyatt couldn't get anymore grumpy, he had to wake up at six in the morning and he hadn't even adjusted to the different time zone.

 

   Wyatt groaned loudly as his digital alarm clock beeped annoyingly. He soon enough rolled over and pounded the snooze button. He stared up at his ceiling before begrudgingly sitting up. He looked around his room.

   Since they had just gotten their furniture and the rest of their belongings, his room had everything he needed, but not everything he wanted. It was too plain. It wasn't...him. But he could worry about making his room "him" again later because, right now, he had to get ready for his new life.

   After he staggered up to his feet, he trudged over to his closet and slid the door open.

   _What to wear...what to wear?_

   The night prior, his mother had a hearty conversation with him on first impressions. First impressions are one of the most important things to think about when you're the new kid. It all comes down to how you handle yourself and how to speak to others. So his mother suggested for him to wear something nice.

 _Here's the thing, mom...nothing in my wardrobe could be considered "nice."_   

   He sighed before grabbing a deep red flannel shirt off of one of the hangers and a pair of baggy jeans. He changed into his outfit for the day and walked into the bathroom. After he bushed his teeth and ran a comb loosely through his hair, he looked up at his reflection.

   Not only did he despise having his picture taken, he also hated looking at his own reflection.

   He touched the locks of dirty blond hair that framed his face. He avoided looking into his dull blue eyes or at the freckles sprinkled across his cheeks. He gave a quiet, dry laugh. With his long, disheveled  hair and his height along with the flannel, he looked like bigfoot crossed with a lumberjack.

   He quickly left the bathroom and returned to his room. After he slipped into his filthy sneakers and his favorite Metallica hoodie, he grabbed his backpack and made his way downstairs. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs, the smell of breakfast wafted from the kitchen. He entered the kitchen and the first thing he noticed was that it was just his mother and Spencer was nowhere to be seen. The next thing he noticed was what she was making. His mother stood in front of the stove. Wyatt quietly gagged at the overwhelming smell of eggs as he swiped a waffle fresh from the toaster.

   "Will you be joining me for breakfast?" his mother asked, looking away from the stove for a brief moment.

   "Nah." he said, just before taking a bite of his waffle. He walked over to the countertop, snatched his bagged lunch and stuffed it into his backpack. "Don't wanna be late on my first day, you know?"

   She nodded. "Right." she paused and turned to her son. "I want you to come home as soon as school is over and when you come home, I want you to tell me all about your day. But...if it's too difficult for you to get through the day, you can always go to the office and call me...I will pick you up."

   "I'll be fine." he mumbled. He turned to her and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "I gotta go now."

   She waved her son goodbye as he ran out the front door.

 

   Since it was pretty early on in the year, it was pretty cold outside.

_Thank God I decided to wear all of these layers._

   He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked down the sidewalk. He kicked a nearby pebble into the road to keep himself occupied. He let out a steady breath and watched it slowly turn into steam. He looked up at the sky and gave a faint smile.

   The sky was a light chalky blue. The clouds and blue, however, leaked into a bright orange due to the Sun. Even though he was accustomed to dreary skies and rainy days, he found it quite nice to look at.

    Keeping his eyes on the sidewalk below him, he continued to make his way to the nearby bus stop. When he looked up to cross the street, he could see a small group of teens by a stop sign. After he joined them, he looked back down at the ground to avoid any and all possible conversations. Thankfully, no one tried to speak to him in the first place. It didn't take long for the bus to arrive and after all the other students got on, he followed after them. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw an abundant amount of empty seats. He sat down in the closest empty seat and glanced out the window. He wasn't sure what made him think of this, but he couldn't help but wish for it to rain. Back in Seattle, it rained every damn day. When they first moved in, he absolutely hated it, but as he grew older, he started to really enjoy the rain. He loved the sound of the rain outside his bedroom window along with watching the drops hit his window, producing the satisfying tapping noise he loved to hear. On the way to his new school, no one tried to sit down next to him. Some would've been insulted, but he was more thankful than anything else. Wyatt snapped out of his trance once he felt the bus stop. He blinked, got up and quickly exited the bus along with the rest of the students.

   The buses were parked up on a small hill behind, but close, to the school. From the top of the hill, he could see the now fully packed school. He could also see two sets of large doors on either side of the school. He walked down the hill and approached one of the sets of doors. He opened them up and...damn.

   It was a LOT more crowded than he expected it to be.

   His high school back in Seattle wasn't even half this bad!

   This was like he's worst nightmare. It was almost enough to make him suffocate.

   He looked up at a nearby clock.

   7:38.

   He sighed in defeat as he walked over to the stairs.

   _First period doesn't even start until 7:55. Damn it...what am I suppose to do now? I can't just walk around and "mingle" or whatever, that would be weird._

   He glanced down one of the hallways and froze.

   At the end of the hallway, was a short boy with caramel hair and a perky smile, standing next to a large stack of newspapers.

   He cringed and hid behind the wall.

   It's not like he hated Kyle, but...something about him just rubbed him the wrong way.

   Since his first period was one the second floor, he decided to wait out the rest of his free time upstairs. Plus, this meant that he wouldn't have to run into Kyle.

 

   The ear-bleedingly loud ringing echoed throughout the school and Wyatt's head, once again snapping him out of his trance. He gulped and nervously looked around, realizing that he now had to go to class. He now had to...socialize with others. 

   He drudged through the crowded hallway and soon made it to his first class.

   _Here we go...time to be an awkward mess in front of a bunch of strangers...as usual._

   He slowly entered the classroom and looked around.

   Some of the students were already in their seats, chatting with each other. But he didn't care about that. He looked towards the teacher's desk to see, surprise, the teacher.

   She was sitting at her desk, working on some papers. Her baggy doe eyes scanned the papers in front of her and when she noticed Wyatt, she looked up, causing her short, black hair to sway slightly. She gave a perky smile, showing that she was listening.

   "Um..." Wyatt mumbled, trying to find the right words. "You're Mrs. Lang, right?"

   She nodded. "Indeed I am. What can I do for you?"

   He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. "Uh...I-I'm Wyatt Anderson. I'm, uh, new here."

   She glanced down at the papers she was looking through before returning her gaze back to Wyatt. "Ah, yes. I was told about your arrival. For right now, just stand up here until all the other students are here. Just so I know where to put you."

   His stomach flipped.

_Does that mean I'll have to introduce myself to a bunch of strangers and, like, talk about myself?_

   Soon, more and more students piled into the classroom. It didn't take long for all the seats to be filled up with students, save for a few empty ones in the back. After the students quieted down, Mrs. Lang stood up in front of the class and motioned for Wyatt to stand by her.

   "Good morning, students." she started. "I am happy to announce that we have a new student joining our classroom. His name is Wyatt Anderson and I want all of you to make him feel welcomed."

   _Please don't ask me if I want to tell them about myself. Please don't ask me if I want to tell them about myself . Please don't ask me if I want to tell them about myself. Please don't ask me if I want to-_

   "Wyatt, do you want to tell the class a little bit about yourself?"

   _Fuck._

   "Sure, I guess." he muttered before straightening out his back. He avoided eye contact with all the students, but he could still feel all their eyes on him, burning holes into him. He gave a small half-assed wave. "Um, hey. I'm Wyatt. I moved here from Seattle, I like video games and uh...that's about it, I guess."

   _God, could I sound anymore awkward?_   

   Mrs. Lang smiled. "Okay, well...let's see..." she scanned through the sea of teenagers. "You...can sit next to Katie. Katie, sweetie, can you raise your hand so Wyatt knows where to sit?"

   Almost as soon as she asked this, a hand shout up. He looked down at the owner of the said hand. The one thing that stood out the most was her pastel pink sweater. He walked to the back of the class and sat down next to her. He glanced towards her and she gave a friendly smile.

   "Okay," the teacher started, picking up a stack of papers from her desk. "now that we have that introduction out of the way, let's get started." she handed out the papers, still talking. "Today is going to be a review day as well as a catching up day for those that have been a little behind in their work. And don't worry, Wyatt. I'll be sure to give you the papers you need to understand the review."

   After she handed him the review, she also handed him a few extra papers. He looked them over.

   _Right triangles & trigonometry...hm._

   "If you're having trouble with anything, Katie can help you. She's a pretty smart cookie." and with that, Mrs. Lang returned to her desk.

   Without much hesitation, he started to work. It wasn't too difficult. Granted, back in Seattle, his class had already gone through this, but he still knew what he was doing. After he made it about halfway through one of the worksheets, he felt someone gently tap his shoulder. He looked over to see that it was the girl he was told to sit down next to: Katie. When she noticed that she got his attention, she pulled back her hand and gave a tiny smile.

   "Hey." she said in a hushed tone. "Are you having trouble with your work?"

   Wyatt glanced down at his papers before looking back up. "Uh...no...no, I'm good."

   She pushed her long locks of almond brown hair out of her face. "Oh, okay. That's good." she looked away for a brief second, but then returned her gaze to him. "Are you a junior?"

   He gave a small, awkward laugh. "Um, no. I'm a-I'm a sophomore."

   Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "Oh, it's just that you look older. I'm sorry."

   "Don't be." he answered with a crooked smile. "I'll take it as a complement."

   Before he could go back to his work, she continued. "So, you're from Seattle?"

   "Yeah, well, I was born here, but when I was eleven, I moved up to Seattle."

   She nodded. "Ah, that's pretty cool. I have a few cousins that live near Seattle." she paused again. "Do you, um, have any friends here yet?"

   He hesitantly shook his head. "Nah."

   "Can I see your schedule?"

   He found this a bit odd, but still handed her his schedule. After she looked over his schedule, she pointed at one of his classes. "Oh, it looks like we have world history together." she looked up at him. "I know that it seems kinda weird to say, but...if you ever want to talk or anything like that, don't be a stranger."

   He cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

   "Well, I meant that, um," she stuttered. "if you need a friend, or something like that, you know, you could talk to me."

   _Geez, she's almost as awkward as me...and that's saying a lot. But...she seems nice enough._

   "Okay." he agreed. "Sounds fine to me."

   Her face lit up before she returned back to her work.

 

   The rest of his classes were nothing but a blur of nothingness to him. He remained silent in his classes and as he walked through the crowded hallways to get to lunch. You can tell a lot from a school from what you overhear from the students and teachers. He didn't mean to eavesdrop. It just so happened that he would hear snippets of conversations from some of the most trashiest students.

   "-going to the party this weekend?"

   "Only if Troy is going."

   "So you get with him?"

   "Of course! He's so fuckin' hot! Think he'll let me suck him off?"

   Wyatt rolled his eyes. It wasn't just the students that he was listening in on. Some of the teachers' words slipped into his head.

   "Don't forget that the project to due next Friday!"

   "I don't get paid enough for this..."

   "For the hundredth time Mr. Dawson, hats OFF inside the building!" 

   As soon as he entered the cafeteria, he was immediately overwhelmed. From the smells over processed food to the sounds of loud teenagers talking over each other. He cringed at the whole display.

   Now...where would he eat?

   He then remembered hearing something about being able to eat outside. He walked to the back of the cafeteria and pushed past the doors. He was disappointed to see outdoor tables filled with equally loud students. He scanned for a quiet place to see and notice that since there wasn't a fence or anything like that surrounding the school. That meant that he could walk to the side of the school. He held back a small smile as he walked over to the side of the school. After the voices of the teens were nothing more than a distant memory, he leaned up against the wall and slowly slid down to the ground. He zipped open his backpack and was about to grab his lunch, but...he wasn't sure what it was, but something made him zip it back up and toss it to his side. He let out a deep sigh and brought his knees up to his chest. He looked back up above him.

   Clouds were beginning to roll in, turning the pale blue sky dark and smoky.

   _Speaking of smoky, it kinda smells smoky around here._

   He rested his head against the less than comfortable stone wall behind him. He closed his eyes and let out a calm breath or what he desperately hoped to be a calm breath.

   _What am I even doing? Like, what am I trying to do? Am I trying to act like everything is normal again? 'Cause it's not...it'll never be normal again. I mean, I'm awkward and don't want to talk to anyone, so that's normal. But that's it. Spencer is stuck in my life, my mom is always stressed and upset, my dad is fuckin' gone and...and...I don't know where my best friend is. The one person that was there when everything happened. The one person that didn't say "sorry for your loss" and fucked off because it was too weird for them. He stuck around and refused to leave...even when I told him to fuck off._

   He dug his nails into his palms, leaving red crescent marks.

   _Maybe I should I just give up. Maybe I should tell mom to homeschool me or something. Maybe-_

   "Hey, need a smoke?"

   The husky voice caught his attention.

   He glanced to his left and saw a hand offering a cigarette. It was tucked between two fingers coated in black nail polish and crudely covered in bandages. 

   He slowly looked up to see the owner of the hand.

   A pair of dark narrow eyes met his blue ones. He had a bored expression plastered across his tanned face. His other hand was shoved into a faded denim jacket.

   When he immediately didn't take the cigarette, the stranger slowly raised a questioning eyebrow.

   Wyatt blinked and shook his head. "Um...n-no thanks. I-I don't smoke."

   He shrugged, as if to say "your loss." He rested his back against the stone wall along with one of his feet.

   "Could've fooled me."

   It was Wyatt's turn to give the questioning look. "What, do I look like someone who smokes?"

   "I dunno." his words muffled by the cigarette resting on his lips. "Just guessed that you did. Y'know, since you're where people usually take their smoke breaks."

   _Oh...so that's why it smells like smoke._

   "Sorry..." he muttered. "Didn't know."

   "No need to apologize." he droned. He pulled out a tie-dye colored lighter and brought it up to the cigarette, using his hand to shield the flame in case of an incoming gust of wind. He took a drag of the now lit cigarette and blew out the smoke through his nostrils.

   Wyatt continued to look at him, starting to get a better look at him.

   Ripped skinny jeans clung to his body along with a plain black shirt he could see poking from underneath his denim jacket. His dark, curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail of sorts. He darted his eyes up to his ring-covered left hand, which was holding the cigarette.

   After another long drag, he darted his own eyes to Wyatt and gave a sly smile.

   _Oh fuck...please don't ask if I'm new here or some-_

   "New 'round here?"

   He sighed and gave a smile, small and grim. "Is it that fuckin' obvious?"

   He chuckled. "Kinda, yeah."

   "Well then...yeah...I'm new." he looked back up. "Moved here a couple of days ago from Seattle."

   "Cool." he took another drag, shorter this time. "What grade are you in?"

   "I'm a sophomore."

   "Junior."

   _Now, I believe that HE'S a junior._

   "Got any friends or are ya a lone wolf?"

   His grim smile turned more genuine. "Lone wolf, I guess."

   "Wanna stay like that?"

_No._

   "Yeah." he blurted, sounding surprisingly cold.

   He chuckled again before putting out the cigarette with a stomp of his foot. "Well, I'll tell ya what...if you ever change your mind about that, I got a group of friends. We hang out pretty much everyday. We meet up in the parking lot on the side of the school at the end of the day. So, if you're ever feeling lonely or bored, you can always hang out with us."

   A part of him wanted to immediately decline his offer, but another part of him desperately wanted friends. He wasn't sure what to do.

   "I'll think about it."

   He gave another sly smile. "Great." he clicked his tongue. "Oh, by the way, I never caught your name."

   "Well, I never threw it." he retorted with a crooked smile. 

_Fuck...I shouldn't have said that. To be honest, this guy intimidates the hell out of me. I should watch what I say._

   Instead of getting angry, he gave a wide grin and gave a hardy laugh, which really surprised Wyatt. "Heh, I guess you're right. I'm TJ."

   His crooked smile grew. "I'm Wyatt."

 

   "I'm ho-"

   Almost as soon as he entered his house, Wyatt was practically tackled by his mother. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, resting her face into his shoulder.

   Startled by this, he flinched and looked down at her.

   "M-Mom? Are you okay?"

   He gripped her shoulder tightly as she looked up.

   Her eyes were bloodshot and her whole body was shaking. Fresh tears were gliding down her hollow cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her eyes,  giving a weak smile.

   "How was your day, sweetie?"

   "Mom...what's wrong?" he now had her arms wrapped around her. His voice started to shake. "Did something happen?"

   She shook her head, biting her lip. "N-No, I just...I just...I just missed you."

   He calmed down slightly, but still refused to let go of her. "Ae you sure that's it?"

   She nodded silently. Her eyebrows then furrowed and she sniffed around her. She turned back to him. "Sweetie, why do you smell like smoke?"

   He gave a small, hopefully innocent smile. "Um...I may or may not have made a friend who may or may not happen to smoke."

 

 

 

 


	4. Comfort Zone

   "How have your first days here been so far?"

   Wyatt eyes left the finished homework laying out in front of him and focused them on who was in front of him.

   It was Katie.

   She wore a perky smile, but then again, she almost always did. Some might've thought that it was unnerving how happy she always was. But not Wyatt. If anything, he was very envious of her constant happiness.

   "They've been good."

   "That's good." she laughed, sitting down next to him. "Any plans for the weekend?"

   He tapped his pencil against the desk. "Nah. I probably won't have any plans for a long time. What about you?"

   "I'm going to be helping out with the prom committee. After all, prom is coming up pretty soon!"

   Wyatt resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

_Prom...ugh._

   "Sounds like fun." he yawned, rolling his shoulders back.

   "Not really." she sighed and furrowed her eyebrows. "It's so hard to agree on anything. I already have some ideas for the theme, but I already know that the others are going to shot them all down."

   "What're your ideas?" he asked.

   She pulled out a small notebook from her backpack and flipped through the pages. "Let's see...'Under the Sea', 'Winter Wonderland' and 'Blast from the past.' The last one is based off of the 1950's. I love them all, but I know that they'll hate them."

   He thought about the themes. Even though he couldn't care less about prom, he wanted to help out. After all, she was incredibly nice to him and obviously wanted to be his friend.

   "Hm...'Blast from the past' sounds pretty cool. I'm sure they'll like it. And if they don't, oh well. It's their lost."

   She huffed, shoving her notebook back into her backpack. "I really hope that you're right."

 

   Almost as soon as class ended, Katie started up another conversation. Not about the prom committee, but about prom itself.

   "So...are you going to prom?"

   Wyatt paused after he zipped up his old tattered backpack. He shook his head and swung the backpack over his shoulders. "Nah."

   "How come?" she questioned, swinging her own backpack, new and clean, over her shoulders.

   _Because I hate going to social events. Because I hate talking to people. Because I hate how I look in a suit. Because I can't dance. Because I don't have any friends that I would go with. Because I don't have that one special someone that I could take._

   "It's just not my kind of thing, I guess." he muttered, hoping that she would get the message and change the subject.

   "Oh." she said awkwardly as she, just as awkwardly, twirled a lock of her hair with her index finger. "Well...I'll see you later, okay?"

   Wyatt replied with a simple nod and left the classroom before it could get anymore weird.

 

   The rest of his classes were that same as usual: boring and uneventfully. But now, it was time for lunch.

   He didn't want to admit it, but his stomach twisted and turned at the prospect of seeing TJ again. It excited him, but, strangely enough, also scared him. He wasn't sure what made him scared, but it just did.

 

   Before he could even turn the corner, the smell of fresh smoke wafted into his nostrils. When he finally turned the corner, he saw, surprise surprise, TJ.

   He looked up from the pack of cigarettes he was holding and gave a small wave.

   "Yo! Long time so see."

   "It's been two days." he said plainly.

   "Like I said, 'long time no see.' " he pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. "Changed your mind about hangin' out with us?"

   Wyatt leaned against the wall next to him. "Why do you care so much?"

   "Ouch." TJ chuckled. "I was just wondering, y'know? You seem like a cool guy to hang out with."

   He scoffed. "Me, cool? You must be talking about someone else."

   "Nah." he muttered. He brought the cigarette up to his lips and after a slow inhale and exhale, his eyes darted back to Wyatt. "So, did you change your mind?"

   He didn't really know what to say. He shrugged, simultaneously shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his hoodie. He looked down at the pavement beneath them, causing a mess of his blond hair to fall into his face.

   "Dunno." he deadpanned. "What do you guys even do?"

   "What DON'T we do?" he asked, now wearing a large grin. "We party and drink like there's no tomorrow, we sneak into concerts, we skip school...hell, we even skip town sometimes. Sound like fun to you?"

   Wyatt shrugged again. He had never done anything like that before. He didn't have that many friends in Seattle and when he hung out with what friends he did, they mostly played video games and ate junk food together. This was entirely out of his league. He tried to imagine himself living this lifestyle: skipping school, sneaking out, going to parties, getting blackout drunk, waking up half naked in someone else's bed and covered in his own vomit.

   He just didn't seem...him.

   And besides...did he really want to get out of his comfort zone? Just to hang out with some guy he just met?

   Comfort zone...comfort zone.

 

   He then remembered a conversation he had with Spencer from the day before

 

   "Hey Wyatt."

   Wyatt had just gotten home from school and he was more than a little surprised to see Spencer waiting for him in the kitchen. His lanky frame was leaning against the counter. It looked like he was waiting for a while.

   "Hey Spencer." he muttered, being as cold as he could be. He looked around. "Where's my mom?"

   He glanced towards the stairs. "She's upstairs, taking a nap."

   Wyatt sighed, placing his backpack on the counter. "She's been so stressed out lately. Why?"

   He shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. She's been looking for a new job, so that could be why."

   _Aren't you her boyfriend? Aren't you suppose to know that kind of shit?_

   Wyatt bit his tongue and stayed quiet as he walked over to the cabinet, craving something with lots of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and will probably end up doing him in. But before he could grab something, Spencer started up the conversation again.

   "Listen, Wyatt...I've been thinking lately...I've been seeing your mother for almost two years now and...we haven't really gotten a chance to hang out. To be honest, I feel like I don't really know you as well as I want to."

   Wyatt turned to him, still remaining silent. One of his eyebrows slowly raised.

   He began fumbling with his words. "So, um, I-I was thinking that we should hang out tomorrow when you get home from school, just the two of us."

   On the outside, he was calm...stoic.

   But on the inside...he was fuming...close to his boiling point.

   _Is he fucking' serious?! He's trying to "get to know me"?! Why?! He's already screwing my mom and now this?! Does he think he'll replace my dad?!_

   "Really?" he asked, in the most calm voice he could muster.

   He gave a small smile. "Yeah. I-I was thinking that I could take you over to the nearby bowling alley. I know, I know, it's pretty cliché. But my dad always used to take me bowling and I loved it."

   _Oh...that is what he's thinking...fuckin' great._

   "I've never gone bowling before and I'd like to keep it that way." he said bluntly, not wanting to even talk to him anymore. He returned his attention back to the cabinet, but sadly, Spencer continued.

   "Well, it's good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes." he took a step closer to Wyatt and offered a kind smile. "So, what do you say?"

   He rolled his eyes before turning to Spencer. "Sure...whatever." he wasn't even slightly serious, but he just wanted to get him off of his back

   His smile grew. "Great! We can leave for the bowling alley as soon as you get home."

   And with that, he gave Wyatt a hardy pat on the back and walked up the stairs.

 

   Wyatt furrowed his eyebrows. Those words kept repeating and echoing throughout his mind.

   _Well, it's good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes._

   He balled his hands into fists.

_Well, it's good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes_

   He clenched his teeth.

_Well, it's good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes_

   It then clicked.

   He relaxed his body. All the tension within him washed away.

   _You know what...for once...you're right, Spencer. I DO need to get out of my comfort zone._

   His lips curled into a devilish smile.

   _And I'll start by hanging out with guys that I've never met before and do things that I've never done before. From now on, I'm not gonna be the goody two-shoes Wyatt Anderson anymore. You won't be hearing anymore "yes sir and no sir" from me!_

   His face softened.

_Well, I mean, unless we're talking about teachers...or my mom. 'Cause then I'll keep respecting them. I don't wanna be a COMPLETE douchebag. But still..._

   He looked up at TJ, returning to his crooked smile.

   "Y'know...that DOES sound fun." he finally agreed. "Where do I sign up?"

   His signature sly smile creeped onto his face before putting out his cigarette.

   "You just did."

 

   After he confessed to wanting to hang out with TJ and his friends, TJ told him to meet him at the side of the school at the end of the day, so he could hang out with his other friends. As cliché as it sounded, Wyatt had butterflies in his stomach and couldn't help but be excited. After all, he had never done anything like this before. All, and I mean ALL, of his friends back in Seattle were socially awkward and cynical nerds like him.

   But TJ was the complete opposite of him. So, this was his chance to make friends and actually have some real fun for once in his life.

   He was so excited, but kept that excitement to himself.

   Well, MOST of it.

   Almost as soon as the bell rang, he swiftly began to pack up his things and just as swiftly ran out the classroom door. He decided not to waste the rest of his energy running, but his heart still pounded against his ribcage and his palms were still sweaty and clammy. He felt like a kid again. 

   For just a moment, he forgot that everything sucked.

   He felt...happy.

   His sneakers flopped hard against the tile floors as he walked through the crowd of loud teenagers. He didn't even care that they were all basically screaming and close to trampling him. After a while of quietly pushing his way through the sea of bodies, he made it to the lunch room and shoved himself through the doors.

   He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that everything around him was silent again. The familiar smell of smoke entered his nose and he turned to where it was coming from, or more accurately, WHO it was coming from.

   "Ready to go?" asked TJ, smoke pouring from his lips.

   "Yeah." he answered, without a single ounce of hesitation in his voice. "I'm ready." 

 

   On their way to the parking lot, TJ talked the whole time, mostly about his friends.

   "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but most of my friends weren't able to hang out with us today."

   He frowned, kicking away at a loose piece of asphalt. "That sucks. How come?"

   "One of them is out of town with his girlfriend, another one is on some trip with his family, even though he doesn't want anything to do with them, another one is still crazy hungover and didn't even come to school and the rest of them are planning some party." he smiled. "Thankfully, ONE of them was able to make it."

   "Better than no one, I guess. What's he like?"

   TJ sighed and shook his head, still smiling. "Well...I could say a lot about him, but let's just say that he might be even more reckless and stupid than I am."

   From the few times they've hung out on the side of the school, TJ only talked about himself when he told Wyatt stories about all the shit he had gotten into over the years. He had been caught smoking on campus. He had been caught drinking and driving. He had been caught smoking weed behind the bleachers during a football game. He had been suspended many times for getting into fights. He was even arrested at one point and his dad had to bail him out. It surprised him that someone could be more reckless than he was.

   "He's a nice guy though." he continued. "We've been through a lot."

   "How long have you known him?" asked Wyatt, genuinely curious.

   "Three years." he snickered. "Even when we were in middle school, we pulled a lot of shit together."

   Before he could ask any questions, TJ's smirk grew. "Speak of the devil..."

   He looked ahead and saw someone laying on the hood of a car, staring up at the sky. The radio in the car was on and blaring out loud music. They seemed to be playing air guitar and badly singing along to the music. At first, Wyatt couldn't tell what was playing, but then recognized it to be Aerosmith, more specifically, Dude (Looks Like A Lady).

   Wyatt cracked a smile.

   _Man...Eddie used to love this song. Whenever he heard it come on, he would have to drop everything he was doing just so he could dance and sing to it. He was such an idiot._

   TJ chuckled. "Typical." he made his voice louder. "Yo Eddie!"

   Wyatt's smile slowly slipped away as his eyebrows furrowed. He couldn't understand what he was saying at first.

   _Wha-no...no...that can't be the Eddie that I'm thinking of. It must just be a coincidence. I mean, it's not an uncommon name. Yeah...it's just a coincidence. That's all it is._

   TJ's call must not of gotten his attention, because he continued to shred the imaginary guitar and started to hump the air above him.

   TJ rolled his eyes and turned to Wyatt. "Here, watch this."

   He walked over to the side of the car and with a swift hand, banged the hood of it with his fist. This scared him, causing him to roll of the hood and land face first into the pavement.

   A laugh escaped Wyatt's lips as the friend groaned in pain.

   "What the fuck, TJ?!" he said, still groaning as he stood up, using the car as support. "Why'd you fuckin' do that, man?!"

   TJ laughed evilly. "I tried to get your attention, man. But you were in the middle of a private concert or something."

   "You're damn right I was!" he growled, wiping his hands on his black skinny jeans. He punched his arm. "Next time, just punch my face or something to get my attention. If I come home with another dent in the hood, my mom will flip her shit."

   TJ continued to laugh as he reached into the car and turned off the radio. "Right, I'll be sure to do that next time."

   Wyatt took a step closer, almost forgetting that he was there. He could now get a better look at the mysterious friend. He was wearing a dark gray flannel layered over a band shirt. His sneakers were old, tattered and practically falling apart. He wore a beanie, snuggly covering his head and only a few strands of black hair poked out from under it. From under the beanie, he could see a piercing in his left ear and two in his right.

   _That...that just can't be Eddie...can it?_

   TJ turned his attention back to Wyatt then back to his friend. "Oh hey, I want you to meet that guy I was telling you about."

   The friend focused his attention to Wyatt. He smiled, calling attention to his lip piercing. "Hey man, what's-?"

   His smile then dropped as his eyes widened. He slowly lifted up his finger pointed at him, unsure of what to say or even think. His jaw dropped.

   "Wait...Wyatt?" he muttered

   Wyatt let out a breathy laugh. He could feel the air prickle at his now slightly teary eyes.  

   "Yeah...it's me...Eddie."

 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Jake and Jack's

   Nothing could prepare Wyatt for what he was getting into.

   But one thing could be said: it all started when he reunited with Eddie.

 

   Eddie's smile returned, much wider and brighter now, before practically pouncing onto Wyatt. He arms tightly wrapped around his body, standing on the tips of his toes, not showing any signs of letting go. Seizing the opportunity, Wyatt quickly wiped away the small amount of tears accumulating around his eyes. He then sheepishly hugged back. He was of course happy to see him, but he was not one for being too touchy feely.

   "OH MY GOD!" Eddie blurted out, his voice brimming with absolute joy. "WYATT! HOLY SHIT! YOU'RE BACK!"

   He pulled away, still holding his arms, now getting a real good look at Wyatt. "Holy shit!" he laughed, now out of breath. "I-I just can't believe it!"

   TJ chuckled, crossing his arms. "I'm guessing that you two have already met."

   Eddie whipped his head around to face TJ. " 'Already met'?! TJ, this is Wyatt Anderson! Y'know, THE Wyatt Anderson! The one that I told you about!"

   Wyatt nervously grabbed his arm. "Wait, you've told him about me?"

   He whipped his head back to Wyatt. He cocked an eyebrow "Um, of COURSE I did! You're my best friend-I mean, you WERE my best friend before you moved-so how was I NOT gonna talk about you?" he playfully punched his shoulder. "God...how long have you been back?"

   He let of his arm and let it swing down to his side. "Um, a little over a week now." he grabbed the shoulder that Eddie punched, laughing awkwardly. "Heh, I'm s-sorry if I don't seem as excited. I am. I'm just, I don't know, a little shocked? It's just been so long, you know?"

   He nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, man." he continued to grin like an idiot and he must have realized it. He swayed his hands in front of his face. "Man, I must look like such an idiot right now. I know that I totally feel like one."

   "You always look like an idiot." TJ said, patting his back. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

   Eddie blinked, looking back at his car. "Oh right." he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out some keys before tossing them to TJ. "Here, you can drive."

   He rolled his eyes, loudly and purposely jingling them. "As always." he walked over to the driver's side.

   Eddie turned back to Wyatt, raising his eyebrows. "C'mon! Let's go celebrate your return!"

   A crack of a smile appeared on Wyatt's face as Eddie turned his back on him and as he followed him into the car.

 

   "I hope you don't mind sitting in the back." Eddie remarked, buckling himself into the passenger seat.

   Wyatt waved the remark away. "It's okay."

   He looked around the car. It was pretty cramped and there was trash lining the floor. The faint smell of smoke and sweat wafted around him.

   He cleared his throat. "So, where exactly are we going again?" 

   Eddie turned around to face him. "There's this diner that TJ and I hang out at all the time. It's called-" his face scrunched up, as though he was trying to remember something. He snapped his fingers a few times before looking over at TJ. "Hey, what was that place called again?"

   "Jake and Jack's. It's called Jake and Jack's, Ed." TJ groaned, obviously been asked this several times before. "I swear you have the memory of a damn goldfish." he muttered, pulling out of the parking spot.

   "Hey, that's rude to goldfish." snorted Wyatt.

   Eddie slowly turned back to Wyatt, wearing a shocked expression on his face. "Damn Wyatt, when did you become so mean?!"

   "I was always mean. I guess you just never noticed." said Wyatt, imitating TJ's sly grin.

   He shook his head in disbelief before looking back ahead of the car.

   "So, Wyatt," TJ started, making sure to keep his eyes on the road. "I've heard I LOT about you-"

   Wyatt didn't usually interrupt others, but he felt compelled to do so. "Yeah, about that, what HAS Eddie told you about me? And other thing, when you met me, did you know that I was the Wyatt that Eddie was talking about?"

   He didn't answer right away. He glanced over to Eddie. "Well, a part of me thought that you reminded me of someone. Like, of someone that Eddie had talked about before. But, I didn't want to, I don't know, assume anything." he grinned. "But, I guess I was right after all." he looked at Wyatt through the rearview mirror. "He told me about all the stuff you guys used to do when you were kids. Pretty exciting stuff, I'll tell you that."

   Eddie turned around to face Wyatt again. "Remember that one time we climbed up onto my roof to watch the meteor shower and we ended up falling asleep halfway through it."

   It took him a minute to really think about it, but he remembered it.

 

   "Uh...Ed? Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Wyatt squeaked. Unlike all the other kids his age, he was very cautious and never did anything even slightly considered dangerous.

   "Dude, I PROMISE. This is gonna be so awesome! Trust me!" Eddie snickered, climbing out of the window. Eddie, however, was the complete opposite. He was about as reckless and dangerous as ten kids his age. For him, everything was a good idea and there was no such thing as a bad idea. "My parents think that we're asleep in my room."

   "Exactly!" Wyatt whispered. "If your parents catch us up on the roof when we're suppose to be in bed, we're gonna be in ever more trouble!"

   "But that's the thing...they AREN'T gonna catch us." Eddie retorted smugly, pulling Wyatt out of the window with him. This caused Wyatt to lose his footing and if it weren't for Eddie catching him, he probably would've loudly collapsed onto the roof, which would've woken up Eddie's parents.

   "Careful." mumbled Eddie, pulling Wyatt up to his feet. He looked behind himself and his eyes widened. "Wow..."

   Wyatt looked to where Eddie was looking and understood everything.

   The empty, lightless skyscrapers stood against the dark indigo sky. The only thing keeping the sky from being empty were the tiny, dazzling dots scattered across it.  Everything was still, but not too still. Just still enough.

   The shuffling beside him caught his attention. He looked down to see Eddie laying out a blanket and a few pillows for them. He fluffed up one of the pillows. "My dad told me that there would be a meteor shower tonight. How awesome is that?"

   "Pretty awesome, I guess." Wyatt said as he sat down next to Eddie. "I'm still a little worried that your parents are gonna catch us."

   "Don't be." laughed Eddie, laying down and crossing his legs. "As soon as the meteor shower is over, we'll sneak back inside and they'll have no clue that we were out."

   He laid down next to Eddie and stared up at the sky. Even though he was nervous about the whole thing, he allowed a small smile to slip past his worry. The usually deafening sounds of the city were now droned out by the sounds of nearby crickets and their hush breathing. The stars and the silver moon above them glimmered and shined brilliantly.

   "Did you see that?!" Eddie hissed quietly.

   Wyatt shook his head. "No? What did you see?"

   Just as he asked that, he saw something wiz across the sky. His bright blue eyes grew wide. Eddie pointed up. "There! Did you see it?"

   Wyatt nodded excitably. "Uh huh! Was that a meteor?"

   "I think." Eddie didn't sound too sure of himself. His smile returned when something else flew across the sky. "Look! Another one!"

   Soon, the two of them could only silently stare in awe at the dazzling lights falling to Earth. 

 

   "Yeah, I remember." Wyatt grinned. "I also remember that it started to rain and we were so startled, that we started screaming. After your parents found us and dried us up, they must've scolded us for a solid five minutes."

   Eddie shrugged and kicked up his feet on the dashboard. "I still think it was a good idea."

   He shook his head. "Even though we got crazy sick afterwards? Even though we were bedridden for a whole week?"

   "Yep!" Eddie replied, resting his hands behind his head.

   TJ once again looked at Wyatt in the rearview mirror. "He also told me that he was pretty badass when he was a kid. Is this true?"

   He cocked an eyebrow. "If eating paint is considered 'badass,' then yeah." Eddie's eyes bolted open in surprise.

   TJ gave Eddie a funny look. "You ate paint?"

   Eddie's face turned bright red. He dug his fingernails into the seat cushion before shooting them both death glares. "That was in the past! Besides, I was, like, five when I did that! Cut me some slack!"

   "Eh, you're off about hm...five years." Wyatt said, looking up at the two of them.

   TJ burst out laughing, hitting the steering wheel. "Hol' up! You were ten?! Damn, even I wasn't dumb enough to do something like that! Why did ya go and do that for?!"

   His face grew even hotter. "I-I didn't know it was paint! I thought it was, I don't know, pudding or some-?"

   "PUDDING?!" TJ howled, slightly swerving in the road. "YOU THOUGHT IT WAS PUDDING?! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU THINK THAT?!" he wiped away a few stray tears. "Wait, wait, was there, like, no label on it or didja just forget how to read?"

   He swatted his arm. "SHUT UP ALREADY!" he crossed his arms and glared back at Wyatt. "Fuck you, man."

   Wyatt leaned back in his seat and flashed a smile. "It's good to be back."

 

   "Well, here we are."

   As TJ said this, he pulled up to what Wyatt assumed to be the diner. He looked out the front window to get a better look at it.

   It was a small, quaint looking place covered in windows and neo lights. He looked up to see a neon red sign flashing the name of the diner.

_Jake and Jack's_

   TJ and Eddie existed the car and Wyatt soon followed after them.

   As they walked up to the entrance, the smell of greasy food entered through his nostrils. It made him sick, but it also made him feel at home. He hesitantly pushed through the doors along with TJ and Eddie, unsure of what was behind the doors.

   He was pleasantly surprised.

   Wyatt couldn't help but immediately admire the space around him. It had a classic 1950's diner feel to it. The floor was covered in black and white checkerboard tiles while road signs, classic pin up posters and photographs of Elvis Presley and other famous musicians adorned the walls. The bright red booths and jukebox caught his eyes along with the bright neon lights surrounding the room. He could only imagine what this place looked like at night.

   "I love this place, but mannn...everything about it is stuck in the 50's." TJ groaned, surveying the area around him. "The décor, the music, the uniforms, the racism, everything!"

   Wyatt blinked and looked over at him, scrunching his face up in confusion. "Wait, the what now?"

   TJ didn't seem to have heard him, or chose to ignore him. He was now focusing his attention to the kitchen and waved to the cook. "Yo, Charlie!" he shouted. He brought his index and middle finger to his lips and made a broad smoking motion. "Gotta smokin' area for me yet?"  

   The old and grizzled man scoffed. He looked to be as old as time itself. "Yeah, it's called crackin' open a window." he pointed to the other side of the room with his spatula. "There's a loose window over there, right by the picture of Marilyn Monroe."

   TJ saluted and begun to waltz away. "Thank ya!"

   "Did I ever tell ya about the time I went out with Marilyn Monroe?" he gruffly asked.

   "All the time, Charlie, all the time!" he shouted back. He looked over to Wyatt and twirled his finger near his temple.

   He stifled a small laugh and followed them over to the booth next to the portrait of Marilyn Monroe. As TJ jumped on top the seat and started to jiggle open the window, Eddie and Wyatt slid into the seat across from him.

   "Josie will be over to take your order in a minute!" Charlie hollered from across the room.

   "Josie?" Wyatt asked, picking up a menu from the center of the table.

   "She's one of the better waitresses here." Eddie answered, grabbing his own menu. "All the other waitresses are moody college students and cougars that'll flirt with anyone who even LOOK like they're in high school."

   After a few quick and jerky motions, TJ pulled the window down. "To be fair, I'm pretty sure Josie is a cougar too." he pulled out a half empty box of cigarettes and slipped one into his mouth. "Remember that one time she gave me a burger and milkshake for free? She's totally into me."

   Eddie rolled his eyes. "She only did that because your dad kicked you out of the house. You didn't have any cash and she felt sorry for you. That's it." 

   TJ lit up the cigarette. He slowly blew the smoke out the window and cocked his head to Eddie. "Whatever you say, man."

   It was strange. When Wyatt watched Eddie and TJ interact, he felt so...out of place. Like he wasn't suppose to be there. Even though Eddie was his best friend, it felt weird being around him and his friend. He tried to shrug off this feeling, but no matter how hard he tried, the feeling continued to linger in the back of his mind.

   The sound of high heels clicking against the tiles drew his attention to the front of the diner. These high heels belonged to an older looking woman who looked to be in her late thirties. A pale blue waitress uniform draped over her slender figure while her slightly graying auburn hair was put into a tight bun. As she came closer, Wyatt could now clearly read her nametag.

   _That must be Josie._

   When she stopped in front of them, she crossed her arms and scanned across the table.

   "Hey y'all." he could make out a faint southern accent in her tone.

   TJ gave half a smirk. "Hey, what's new pussycat?"

   She rolled her eyes, now putting her hands on her hips. "Wow, never heard THAT one before." she crinkled up her nose when she saw that TJ was sitting with his feet on the seat. "Boy, put that cigarette out and keep your damn feet off the couch. I just had them washed."

   He snickered before tossing the cigarette out the window and plopping down into his seat. "Now, is that any way to talk to a kid?" 

   "What are ya gonna do? Run off to your daddy and tattle on me?" she asked, looking as if she already knew the answer.

   He laughed in defeat. "You already know that he wouldn't do shit."

   She waved away the remark. She then noticed Wyatt and looked up at Eddie. "Who's the new boy?"

   Eddie swung his arm over Wyatt's neck, which caused Wyatt to slightly flinch. "This is Wyatt. He was one of my closest friends from when we were kids. He moved out a few years ago and he just moved back not too long ago."

   She looked back down at Wyatt and offered a kind smile. "Nice to meet ya Wyatt. Havin' a nice day so far?"

   He returned a much more nervous smile and gave a small nod. "Not really talkative, I see." She pulled out a notepad and pen. "Now, what can I get for y'all?"

   TJ snatched the menu from Eddie's hands and scanned through it. "I'll have a burger and Coke. With the burger, hold the pickles and onions."

   Eddie snatched his menu back. "I'll have a hotdog, curly fries and a Pepsi."

   "I swear, I should've stopped being your friend when I found out that you drink Pepsi instead of Coke." chuckled TJ, taking the menu from him once again to give it to Josie.

   Josie laughed herself before turning to Wyatt. "What'll you have, hun?"

   He looked down at the menu. A checkered border surrounded the bubbly letters and cartoonish pictures of food. He knitted his eyebrows and looked at every inch of the menu.

_So many choices..._

   The milkshakes caught his attention, as did the fries. He gulped. He was never good at ordering things for himself. Even when him and his mother went up to the McDonald's cashier at the airport, his mother had to order for him because of how nervous he was. He tapped his index finger against the table, pretending to think about what he wanted to order. Before he could work up the courage to speak up, Eddie spoke up.

   "He'll have a chocolate milkshake and fries."

   After she wrote down their orders and gathered up the menus, she swept her eyes over the three teens. "Alright then. I'll be back with your food real soon."

   After she walked away, Wyatt turned to Eddie. "How'd you know that's what I wanted?"

   "I saw you eyeballing it on the menu." he explained. "And, last time I checked, you love chocolate, right?"

   A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, I do. You remembered?"

   " 'Course I did!" exclaimed Eddie, mimicking Wyatt's smile. "Best friends remember the small things 'bout each other." he gestured to TJ. "For example, TJ's favorite candies are Jolly Ranchers and Pop Rocks."

   "Out of all the things you remember, you remember what candy I like to eat?" TJ asked, wearing a emotional vacant expression on his face. "You couldn't remember the name of this diner, the diner we hang out all the time at, but you remembered my favorite candies?"

   Eddie gave an exaggerated shrug. "Hey man, I don't chose what I wanna remember. My brain just decides what's most important in the moment, and that just happened to be your favorite candies."

   "You need to get your priorities straight." he said bluntly, sitting back on top of the seats, hopping to sneak a quick smoke without Josie noticing. 

   "Says you!" he blurted out. "When we were running from that party that got busted by the cops, you wanted to go back because you 'forgot to bring your will to live.' "

   He lit up another cigarette. "And thanks to YOU, I don't have it anymore." he blew the small amount of smoke out the window. "It's gone with the wind now."

   Eddie rolled his eyes and looked back to Wyatt. "I'm sorry man. This whole time, we've just been talking 'bout ourselves. How've you been? Why'd you move back?"

   Wyatt wasn't sure how to answer. He leaned back in his seat, shoved his hands into his pockets and let out a heavy sigh. Eddie immediately noticed the discomfort emanating from him. The happy and carefree atmosphere was replaced with one filled with uneasiness. 

   What could he say? What should he say?

   "Well, I mean...my grandma suggested that we move back, y'know? She thought that it would help us to return to our roots or something. I don't know."

   He didn't want to say too much. He was back with his best friend and he didn't want to ruin it by making him uncomfortable. He wanted to change the subject, but he knew that Eddie would want to know more. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to feed into that want of his.

   _I guess I'll have to lie through it._

   "I've been doing fine." he said plainly.

   Eddie's smile returned, much kinder and softer this time. "That's good. I'm glad that you've been doing well. It's great, you know, considering-" Eddie stopped himself from talking anymore. A small, uncomfortable laugh slipped past his lips. "Um, sorry. I'll shut up now."

   As if it was perfectly timed, Josie returned, now holding three trays filled with food.

   "One hotdog, curly fries and Pepsi." as soon as she placed the meal in front of Eddie, he begun to dig in.

   "One chocolate milkshake and fries." after she gave him his meal, he looked up at her and a mustered up a tiny smile.

   "T-Thanks." he muttered.

   "No problem hun." she said cheerfully. She placed the final meal in front of TJ. "And one burger with EXTRA pickles and onions and Coke."

   He snickered, putting out his second cigarette and sitting back down. "You didn't really-" he lifted up the bun and sneered. "You did."

   "Think of it as payback for scuffin' up the couches." and with that, she left.

   TJ groaned angrily at the extra ingredients that were added.

   "Just give 'em to me." Eddie offered, scooping up the pickles and onions and putting them onto his hotdog.

   He looked him up and down, wearing the most disgusted look on his face. "That's...nasty."

   "How is that nasty?!" he asked, before taking a large bite from his hotdog. "It's taste fuckin' good to me!"

   "Trust me." Wyatt started. "This is nothing. One time, when we were eight, Eddie wanted to make the most horrible drink using food from around his house. He blended pickles, mustard, mayo, bread and ice cream together. And...he drank it."

   He didn't it was possible, but TJ's face grew even more disgusted as Wyatt described the vile concoction. "Oh my God. Eddie, what the fuck?! You actually DRANK it?!"

   His chewing slowed down. "Um...yeah? It wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be."

   TJ hid his face. "I...I'm never talking to you again."

 

   After they were finished with their greasy, yet delicious food, the check rolled in.

   All three of them grew silent.

   Wyatt shifted in his seat. "Here, I'll pay for lunch. It only makes sense."

   TJ lifted up his hand. "Now now Wyatt, I insist." he glanced back to Eddie. "Eddie, you pay for it."

   "What?!" shouted Eddie. "That's bullshit! Why don't we just split the bill like normal people?"

   "Last time I checked, we're not normal people." he slid the check to him. "Pay up, bitch."

   He uttered a multitude of curses under his breath as he pulled out his wallet.

   "Don't forget the tip." TJ said smugly in a sing-song tone.

   "Isn't that what your ex-girlfriend always used to say to you?" he asked, still hushed under his breath.

   TJ put on a mocking smile. "I'm gonna pretend that I didn't hear that. Unless you wanna go home in an ambulance, I'd suggest that you pretend too."

   Eddie decided not to respond with his usual witty remarks and placed some money on the check.

   Soon, the three of them got up, waved to Josie goodbye and existed to the parking lot.

   Even though it was Wyatt's plan to be rebellious and not come home right away, he started to grow nervous. Sure, this was one of the least rebellious things he could've done, but he was still breaking a promise that he made. He wouldn't have cared if he just had to worry about Spencer, but his mother must of been worried about where he was.

   "Um." before he got into the car, he caught both of their attention. "I know this'll sound pretty lame, but, will you guys drop me off at my house now?"

   "Sure man." TJ said, stepping into the car. "Just give me the address, we'll drive and drop you off."

   After they all got inside the car, Eddie turned around to face him. "Hey, how come you wanna go? Gettin' board of us already?"

   He let out a huff of a laugh. "No, it's just...my mom. I'm sure she's worried sick about me."

   His eyes grew wide. "Oh shit. I forgot about your mom. Is she doing okay?"

   "Yeah, all things considered." he answered with a shrug. He looked over to TJ, who was behind the wheel. "848 Parkside Street."

   "You got it." TJ pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive off.

   As him and Eddie chatted about random things, Wyatt mostly kept to himself. He stared outside the window, unsure of how to join in on their conversation. The feeling of being out of place reared its ugly head in once again. He shouldn't have felt out of place.

   After all, this was his best friend. 

   He clenched his fists.

_There's that awful word again. "Was."_

   They haven't seen each other in five whole years, but...they were still friends. They just had to be...right? What if...what if Eddie didn't want to be friends with him anymore? What if-?

   "Hey Wyatt?"

   Wyatt snapped out of his trance and looked up at Eddie.

   "Um, I was wondering...do you wanna hang out with me and TJ again sometime soon? Y'know, so we can catch up and hung out just like we used to?"

   He allowed a full grin to grace his lips. "Yeah, of course."

 


	6. I'm a pirate, jackass!

   "You live here now?"

   Wyatt darted his eyes towards the front of the car and saw that TJ was now parked outside of his house.

   Wyatt nodded. Eddie shook his head in disbelief. "Damn...this place looks sweet."

   He shrugged as he opened up his door. "I guess. It's a lot better than our other house."

   As he closed the door behind himself, Eddie's head popped out of his window. "So, what's the plan?"

   "The...plan?" Wyatt asked, cocking an eyebrow. He wasn't quite catching what Eddie was laying down.

   He placed his elbows on the window and rested his chin in his hands. "Y'know, for when we hang out? Should I swing by your place tomorrow or what?"

   Wyatt knew for a fact that his mother wasn't going to let him set foot outside after that stunt he pulled. For the first time since he was a kid, he was going to be grounded.

   "Um...this weekend isn't gonna work for me." he replied simply.  "Maybe next weekend."

   Eddie looked beyond disappointed, but quickly hid his disappointment with a smile. "That's okay. See you later man."

   After he rolled up his window, him and TJ skidded away. As soon as their car disappeared from view, Wyatt slowly but surely turned around to face his house. It bathed in the light of the orange sunset. It would've looked beautiful, had it not been for what was waiting for him inside. He shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged up to the front door. He fumbled for his key and jammed it into the lock. He took a deep breath, turned the key and creaked the door open. As soon as he stepped into his house and closed the door, the familiar feeling of being wrapped up into a tight hug enveloped him. Soon, the equally familiar sound of his mother's whimpers entered his head. He looked down to see his mother with her arms tightly around him.

   "Where were you?!"

   He looked up to see Spencer walking towards the two of them.

   "Your mother and I were worried sick!" he desperately tried to sound angry and intimidating, but sounded confused more than anything else.

   _I don't give a fuck if YOU were worried about me._

   He gulped and looked down at his mother. She eventually looked up to face him. Her eyes were red and filled with fresh tears. She cupped his face with her tiny, shaky hands as she furrowed her brows. She looked as if she hadn't seem him in years.

   "H-Honey...w-w-where were you? I-I was so worried."

   He carefully wrapped one of his hands around her hand. He looked behind her and stole a glance from Spencer before looking back down to his mother.

   "Um...can I talk to you...alone?"

   She looked behind her to face Spencer then turned back to Wyatt. "O-Okay."

   She lead him upstairs, making sure that they could talk in peace. She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her bathrobe. She crossed her arms and shot a stern look.

   "So...where were you?"

   He sighed. "Mom...guess who I was with?"

   She cocked an eyebrow. "Wyatt, what-?"

   "Just guess."

   She looked down. Her eyes darting around the floor, thinking hard about who her son could've been with.

   A small smile crept onto his lips as he grabbed her arm. "Eddie...I was with Eddie."

   As soon as she processed the words coming from his mouth, her eyes grew large and her lips curled into a wide smile. "Eddie? Oh my goodness...Eddie! Y-You two were such good friends." a few stray tears slid down her face. But this time, they were tears of joy. "Oh my...this-this is great news! I-I'm so sorry that I got so upset. If I had known that you were with him, I would've had nothing to worry about!" she hugged him once more. "Oh honey...I knew it was a good idea to move back to Atlanta."

   He hugged back, resting his face onto her head. "Yeah...it was a good idea."

 

   Wyatt flicked the switch of his bedroom lamp, engulfing the room in a soft yellow glow. He slipped out of his hoodie and jeans, tossing them to the floor when he got out of them. When he only had on his t-shirt and boxers, he flopped onto his bed. He released a tired sigh as he clenched the blanket between his fingertips. He allowed his face to fall into the blanket, simultaneously running his free hand through his hair.

_What a day._

   He looked up, surveying everything around him through the loose strands of hair dangling in front of his face. He sat up and walked over to his window. After a few tugs, it was open. He rested his hands on the windowsill.

   The sounds of the nearby city and crickets filled his ears. It was strangely soothing.

   He gazed up at the sky.

   A few stars poked out from behind the gray clouds. The previously orange sky turned ashy lavender, with hints of the remaining orange.

   He smiled. But it soon slipped away. He looked down at his hands, which were slowly curling up.

   _I'm back. It's almost like I never left...yet..._

   He turned around to face the few moving boxes that were still yet to be unpacked. He kneeled down and opened one of them up.

   A photo album rested on top of the clutter of old nick nacks.

   He pulled it out and flipped to a random page

   It was a picture of him and Eddie, big shocker. He had a feeling that a lot of the photos were going to be of them.

   He ran his thumb over the cursive writing that laid underneath the photo.

   Halloween, 1995.

   That would explain the absolutely ridiculous pirate costumes they were wearing and the overflowing pillowcases of candy they were holding up.

   While Wyatt was fitted in a frilly shirt, an oversized pirate hat and a stuff parrot, which was resting on his shoulder, Eddie stood beside him in a striped shirt, a bandana around his head and an eyepatch over his left eye.

   _Weird...I could've sworn that I was the one wearing the eyepatch._

   Just as he had that thought, the memories came flooding back.

 

   "Let's get that house over there!"

   Wyatt's and Eddie's parents made the grave decision to let them go trick-or-treating by themselves. They didn't get kidnapped or egg any houses, but they ran around the neighborhood like the deranged, sugar-hungry children they were without any supervision whatsoever.

   Wyatt let out an annoyed groan as he tried to keep up with Eddie.

   "Hurry up, Wyatt! This house hands out the biggest candy bars in the whole damn neighborhood! We gotta get there before they run out!"

   He fixed his comically large pirate hat, barely clearing his vision up. Eddie had convinced him to wear an eyepatch under his glasses, saying how cool he would look. Guessing by the stifled laughter he heard from Eddie when they first saw each other that afternoon, he must have not looked that cool. It also made looking and walking a hassle, since he could only see out of one of his eyes and how dark it was that night.

   When they finally made it to the driveway of the house, they pushed past a small group of kids and ringed the doorbell. Eddie excitably bounced up and down, eager to get a handful of oversized candy bars.

   The door opened up to reveal an older looking woman, holding a plastic orange bowl. She looked down at the two of them and gave a kind smile.

   "Ah! What cute little pirates!"

   Wyatt, along with Eddie, glowed red with embarrassment. "Do you have any giant candy bars left?"

   Her smile dwindled slightly. "Oh, I'm so sorry sweetie. I'm fresh out of them." she offered the candy bowl. "But I still have some regular candy."

   The two of them sighed, taking a small handful of candy and stuffing it into their pillowcases.

   After she wished them good luck on their candy filled adventure and closed the door, they turned around and started to glumly walk down the steps of her house.

   "Aww, sad that ya missed out on all those awesome candy bars?"

   They both looked up to see a boy their age. He was dressed up as a werewolf. He had the wild hair, the claws, the ripped up clothes, everything. "Hey."

   "Hey Jamie." Eddie growled angrily. His sneer then turned into a smug grin. "Where's your costume? Didja leave back at the shed you call a house?"

   Jamie went to their school and was in their class. Him and Eddie never really got along. There was no actual reason for their hatred for each other, at least, no reason Wyatt knew off. This is how they usually acted when they ran into each other and Wyatt tended to stay out of it, not wanting to take part of a potentially blood bath. 

   He placed his clawed hands on his hips. "Very funny. I'm wearing my costume, genius. I'm a werewolf. An actually cool costume." he pointed at him. "What are YOU suppose to be? Some kind of clown?"

   Eddie's face started to turn red. Wyatt wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger. He stomped his foot. "I'm a PIRATE, jackass!"

   "Oh! You're a pirate jackass?" Jamie questioned, wearing a shit eating smirk. "Good choice. After all, you didn't even need to try with the 'jackass' part."

   That was the last straw for Eddie.

   Wyatt swore he could see steam coming from his ears. He shoved his pillowcase into Wyatt's hands, never taking his eyes off of Jamie. "Hold this."

   Before Wyatt could protest, Eddie ran over to Jamie, tackling him to the ground. Wyatt didn't even have time to be shocked. They two of them rolled around on the cold pavement, throwing punches at each other. Wyatt was about to break up the fight, when all of a sudden, a large group of kids saw the fight and ran over to watch it, forming a circle around the two boys. He pushed through the sea of easily amused children, wanting nothing more than to break up the developing fight. He called out Eddie's name, but it was droned out by the kids cheering the fight on. Eddie was on top of Jamie, landing punch after punch to his face. However, Jamie was able to land a pretty powerful punch, which momentarily stunned Eddie. Wyatt decided enough was enough. He dropped the pillowcases and ran up to them. He hooked his arms around Eddie's and hoisted him off of Jamie, trying to drag him away. Before he could fully drag him away, Eddie stomped his foot into Jamie's crotch, causing all the kids to cringe and groan along with Jamie himself. He staggered up, turned and ran off without looking back.

   "Yeah!" shouted Eddie, still being held by Wyatt. "You better run! Try anything like that again and I'll kick your ass even harder!"

   It didn't take long for the crowd to slowly disappear and once they were all gone, Wyatt allowed Eddie to stand on his own. He surveyed the driveway and spotted Jamie's trick-or-treating bag. He bolted over to it.

   "Jackpot!" he cheered, picking it up. "That dumbass left all of his loot!" he turned back to Wyatt, putting on his proudest smile. "Looks like we'll be feasting like true pirates tonight!"

   Wyatt blankly stared at Eddie. The latter tilted his head as he returned to his side. "What's wrong?  Parrot got your tongue?"

   Wyatt lifted up his finger, pointing at his face. "Dude...Jamie gave you a hell of a shiner."

   He shrugged. "So what? You should've seen him. I beat the hell outta him!"

   Wyatt sighed, shaking his head. "That's not what I meant. If your mom finds out that you got into another fight, she'll ground you and maybe take all of your candy." he slipped off his eyepatch and put it on Eddie. "Here...just wear this for tonight."

   Eddie touched the covered eye and smiled. "Thanks man-er...I mean...matey."

   Wyatt chuckled, playfully punching his shoulder. "Keep talking like that and I'll give you another black eye."

   Eddie swung Jamie's trick-or-treat bag over his shoulder. "And make me walk the plank?"

   They started to walk back onto the main sidewalk. "I mean it. Shut up."

   "Will you make me shiver me timbers?"

   "Eddie-"

   "Will you turn me into shark bait?"

   "Eddie-"

   "Will you stuff me into Davy Jones' Locker?"

   "EDDIE-!"

   "Will you-OUCH! That hurt!"

   "Next time, I'll aim for your face. Then, it'll really hurt."

 

   A weak laugh echoed from Wyatt's mouth. They were jackasses. But they were also the best pirates to ever sail the seven seas. He felt his hands shiver as he held the album. Scratch that, his whole body shook. Part of it was due to the open window, letting in a few gusts of that cold January air. Another part...was due to what used to be. This was all before the move. All before his dad died. All before everything sucked. He sniffed, feeling a strong, familiar pinching from behind his eyes.

   _No...I'm not gonna cry over some dumb picture of us as pirates._

   He closed the album, unable to even look at it anymore. He took off his glasses and rested his face in his sleeves.

   _Stop it. Stop crying. It's okay now. I'm back home. Back with Eddie. Everything is okay. Everything is okay. Everything is okay._

   Be laid back against the ground, staring up at the ceiling. He squinted his eyes, trying to pull the tears back.

   "Everything is going to be okay."

 


	7. Heads up!

   It was only Wyatt's second week of school, yet he already wanted to quit and run for the hills.

 

   Wyatt was never the athletic one, nor did he regularly engage in sports. However, he still had to take physical education. But he hated every second of it. From the loud and disgusting locker rooms to the obnoxious sounds of squeaky sneakers against the shiny floors. He especially hated the sports and games he was forced to participate in.

   "Heads up, Goldilocks!"

   He blinked and ducked, narrowly avoiding the giant red ball.

   Dodgeball had to be his least favorite game of them all.

   "Pay attention there, blondie!" yelled Mr. Lawrence, one of the many gym teachers. "That one almost knocked your head off!"

   He rolled his eyes, huffing out a breath of air.

_If only I was fortunate enough._

   In case it wasn't obvious enough, Wyatt was in the middle of a surprisingly intense game of dodgeball. It was the sophomore class verses the junior class and the latter were killing it. Half of the sophomores were cocky jock wannabes and the other half were awkward outcasts like him. Wyatt tried his absolute best to stay far away from the major battle zones and remain in the back where no one could hit him. However, one of the juniors must of found the perfect angle to try to hit Wyatt from. If it weren't for the smartass comment, they probably could've been able to actually hit him. Wyatt cringed at the thought of it. He took a few stepped back and rested his back against the wall, watching the war go on.

   "Got room for one more?"

   He turned his head towards the voice to see TJ. 

   Wyatt squinted his eyes, simultaneously raising up one of his eyebrows.

   "Aren't you suppose to be on the other side? Y'know, with the juniors?"

   He shrugged, raising one of his own eyebrows in response. "Who cares? I know the teachers don't."

   It was so strange seeing TJ in gym. Whenever he saw him outside of that class, he was always wearing band shirts, denim jackets, ripped jeans and usually with a cigarette in hand. But in gym, he was forced to wear the same ugly green shorts and gray shirt everyone else was forced to wear. However, some of the males students were aloud to wear their shirt with the sleeves cut off or even wear gym tank tops that exposed the sides of their bodies. He was one of those boys.

   As he leaned against the wall with Wyatt, he fidgeted with his fingertips, watching the game. Wyatt silently crossed his arms, looking down at the floor. As his eyes darting around, they accidently darted over to TJ and he noticed something he hadn't noticed before.

   A tattoo.

   A minimalistic crown on the side of his torso, to be more precise. Underneath, in small cursive lettering, was a short phrase. He slightly narrowed his eyes, trying to fully make out what was written.

   _"Together"? What could-?_

"Hey. My eyes are up here."

   He tilted his up to face TJ, who wore half a smile. Wyatt gave a small laugh. "Sorry. I was just-um...checking at that tattoo of yours. I had no idea that you even had any tattoos."

   TJ leaned his head back and laughed along with him. "Of course I have tattoos. What kind of rebellious teenager would I be if I didn't?"

   Wyatt shrugged. "Dunno." he looked back down at it. "So...what does it mean?"

   He then grew very silent. The half smile slipped away as he looked down. He sighed and bit his lip. "It um-means a lot of things."

   "Like...what?" he gulped, knowing that pressing was a bad idea.

   TJ sighed again. "Look...Wyatt, I like you man. But...this is-uh, a little personal, you know? Maybe I can tell you another time, but not right now."

   Wyatt nodded, showing that he understood. However, a part of him was still curious of what it could've meant. A close family member? An ex-girlfriend perhaps. He crossed his arms and observed TJ's body language. At first his eyes were glazed over and his smile was gone. But then, he noticed his pupils dilate as a shy grin creeped onto his face. Before he could ask if something was up, a dodgeball whizzed by the rest of the students and smacked TJ right in his arm. The two of them flinched and looked up to see who threw it.

   "Yeah! Take that, TJ! Suck my dick!" imagine the most run of the mill jock bro in the world. That would be him. He ran his hand through his brown hair as he high-fived one of his bros. 

   TJ grinned. "Yeah! You would like that, wouldn't you, Jamie?"

   Wyatt grabbed his arm. "Wait...Jamie? As in... Jamie Neal?"

   "I take it you two are friends." TJ chuckled.

   "Hardly." scoffed Wyatt. "When he were kids, Eddie and Jamie absolutely hated each other and always butted heads. Now let's hear your story. Does he hate YOU?"

   He rested his hand behind his head. "You could say that. I didn't even do much. All I did was make a little comment on how excited he had been to slap his teammate's ass after the big football game. I guess that wasn't the right thing to say."

   Wyatt gave a small laugh. "Yeesh...is that all?"

   "Yep." TJ continued to fiddle with his fingers, praying to whatever god was out there that a cigarette would just magically appear in his fingertips.

 

   Soon, it was lunchtime.

   Just as Wyatt was walking down the hallways, he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He looks down to his left to see Katie.

   She swung her arms by her side and smiled. "Hey Wyatt. How's it going?"

   He shrugged, continuing to walk down the halls, making sure not to walk to fast. "Eh. It's going okay, I guess. What about you?"

   "I'm doing great." she said while biting her lip, suppressing a small giggle. "I talked to the others on the prom committee and they absolutely LOVED my 'Blast from the past' idea. They loved it so much, that it's going to be the theme for prom!"

   Wyatt offered a encouraging smile. "Hey, what'd I say? I knew they'd love it."

   She nodded excitably. "I know!" she glanced up at him. "Um...Wyatt? Do you want to, I don't know, sit with me during lunch?"

   He thought for a moment. He had planed to meet up with Eddie and TJ outside in the smoking area, but, how could he say no to such sweet girl?

   "Uh...sure."

 

   When they entered the cafeteria, Kate dragged Wyatt over to a small empty table and sat themselves down. At first, the two of them just pulled out their lunches and began to silently eat, but right as she was about to take a bite of her sandwich, she sighed and lowered it.

   "Wyatt...since you're still new here and since you're my friend, I think there's a few things you need to know about this school."

   Wyatt only stared at her, not knowing how to respond. He gulped. "Um...Okay?"

   Katie straightened her back out and folded her hands out in front of her. "Okay. There's a lot of things that I could bring up, however, I think I should only talk about one of those things. You see, there's a group of kids here at school and all they do is party, drink and ditch class. Their group is made up of sophomores, juniors and even a few seniors. They seem pretty serious. I just don't want you getting tangled up with them, that's all."

   A knot was slowly forming in the pit of his stomach.

   _Why do I have a feeling I know who she's talking about?_

   "Do you know any of their names?"

   She looked down, thinking. "Um...I know one of their names. I only know because I remember that he got himself arrested. It's TJ, I think."

   The knot grew tighter.

   _Well...shit._

   "Man, they sound, er, dangerous." along with not being very athletic, he also wasn't the best actor. He prayed that she wouldn't see through his bullshit.

   She nodded. "They are. So, try not to get involved with them, okay?"

   Wyatt hesitantly nodded back. "Yeah...okay."

 

   As usual, the rest of the day was blur of meaningless colors and shapes. But as he walked home, he couldn't get his mind off of what Katie had said to him. He knew that TJ, Eddie and the others did stupid things, but could they really be dangerous?

   _What the fuck am I getting into?_


End file.
